R.P. Dahlke – A DEAD RED Gamble is featured at the HBS Author's Spotlight Showcase

The Showcase is a special feature of the Author's Spotlight. It is designed to highlight Spotlight author's NEW releases and their soon to be released novels.

The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES R.P. Dahlke's New Book: A DEAD RED GAMBLE.

Mystery Author R.P. Dahlke is the author of The Dead Red Mystery Series. 

She will be presenting A DEAD RED GAMBLE at the Tucson Festival of Books 2019, University of Arizona Campus – March 2 – 3, 2019 – 9:30am to 5:30pm

A DEAD RED GAMBLE

The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 6

Author: R.P. Dahlke


AVAILABLE
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Newly minted P.I. duo Lalla and Pearlie Bains, are thrilled at the prospect of signing a well-connected judge as a client.

But then a stranger persuades Lalla's dad’s two foster boys to release a cage of chickens in the county courthouse and the distraction is used to cover the judge's murder.

Now Lalla and Pearlie are in a race to catch a killer before the killer decides two boys will have to be silenced…permanently.

Excerpt from A DEAD RED GAMBLE

Chapter One:

Dreaming of a better fit for our P.I. business, I hoisted a box of process serves onto my hip and backed into the office we leased on a lie.

I dropped the box onto cousin Pearlie's desk and flopped into the nearest desk chair.

Annoyed at the interruption, Pearlie looked up and snarled, "What's with you?"

Figuring she was PMSing again, I ignored the snarky tone. "Do you know if we've had any dealings with Judge Borrega?"

Pearlie blinked and her dour mood instantly brightened. "Gavin Atticus Borrega? The youngest Cochise County judge in like?forever? He's forty and single. Old Arizona family. Harvard educated. Think Kennedy without the Brahman Massachusetts accent."

"You know him?”

"Only from a distance but I wouldn't mind getting better acquainted."

With long blond hair, curvy and dimpled, Pearlie is Wishbone's favorite man bait, and since her most recent breakup, I wouldn't be surprised if she had her sights set on a handsome judge.

I hated to ask, but my next question would, could make or break a deal with this prestigious potential client, "Is there any possible connection between the judge and Ron Barbour?"

She did a quick shudder. "God, I hope not."

Though our former partner and mentor, Ron Barbour, had been our entrée into the world of private investigating, his untimely demise revealed a dirty secret that Pearlie and I have yet to excise from the lips of local gossips. Of course, Ron never once considered two blondes willing to fork over the asking price for his PI business would ever make it as far as we did, much less be the ones who would eventually solve his murder. I hope he was enjoying the fact that hell had actually frozen over, 'cause here we are.

"What do you want Judge Borrega for anyways?"

"His secretary called, asked if I'd drop by his office this afternoon? that is if I could spare the time."

Pearlie shot me a voracious grin. "If you're busy, I'll go."

I ignored the salacious tone of her offer.,"I can't think why he would want to talk to me, but before I go, could you take a look and see if there's any association between the judge and our dearly departed partner?"

"Judge Gavin Borrega is new to the bench, but lemme look anyways," she said, bending over her computer again.

While she looked, I glanced at our skeleton and mascot, Clyde, looking lonely and out of place on his stand in the corner. Pearlie had wreathed his neck bones with a colorful, plastic lei and the appropriate, Here Today, Gone to Maui. It was meant as inspiration for that vacation we could someday afford, but so far, we were barely keeping our noses above water.

Her head came up from the laptop, "It's your lucky day. There's nothing with Judge Borrega's name connected to Ron Barbour."

Worried that something might creep out of the ashes to ruin my interview, I said, "And Ron's secret files?"

Pearlie's mouth puckered with distaste. "A file on him would've gone up in smoke along with Ron. Anyways. who wants to open that can of worms? The judge’s father was Arizona's State Attorney… and… oh, dear…," she looked up from her computer, her eyes swimming with tears. "The father was shot dead in a drive-by, leaving a young widow and their baby boy."

Though Pearlie had been orphaned when her parent died in a car crash, lately any mention of orphans, car wrecks, or babies brought her to tears.

"Did the mother remarry?" I asked.

"Hold your horses." Pearlie squinted at the screen. "Yeah. Five years ago, to Senator Stephen Douglas and rumor has it Judge Borrega is being fast-tracked for a move up into state politics."

"That is fast. Is Senator Douglas behind this move up?"

"Or maybe his pedigree and good looks." Pearlie turned around her laptop and presented me with the image of a young Gavin Atticus Borrega, a darkly handsome young man with soulful Latin good looks and wavy dark brown hair.

At my reaction, she snickered." I told you he was a looker, didn't I?"

"Looks, brains, and a judgeship. What's he aiming for?the White House?"

"I got process files to serve, so good luck with the judge," she said, snapping shut the lid on her computer.

I know I shouldn't go into a meeting with a judge hoping this would be the job that gave our fledgling business a shot in the arm, but process serves and the few insurance companies we had managed to keep when Ron died paid the bills but not a salary. Pearlie was living off the fumes of her savings account, and I was reluctantly allowing my husband's salary as Wishbone's police chief to hold up my end of expenses.

I popped a Tums against my nervous stomach and set out to collect my dad's two foster kids from the local elementary school. I would park them under a shady tree near the courthouse while I squeezed in a quick introduction with the judge and be on the road home.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around why my father thought he should foster two half Apache brothers. But the mantra that kept us all on track was that the deal was temporary, only until their mother got out of rehab. A month. That's all it was supposed to take. But when the chief source of recreation is a blurry world soaked in alcohol sobriety can look like a long, slow walk to hell.

Our pipe dream evaporated two days after her release when she dumped the boys back onto my dad's doorstep, a note wadded in little Jimmy's grubby fist saying she wasn't cut out to be anyone's mother and please don't try to find her.

Rocky and Jimmy took her sudden departure with the equanimity of veterans. After all, they knew Noah Bains would feed them three square meals a day, he had a working TV and a dog to play with.

So, when my dad needed a day off with his friend, Gabby Hayes, naturally I volunteered to pick up the boys after school, feed them dinner at our house.

Too bad I couldn't think of someplace where I could safely unload them while I met with the judge. How much trouble could they get into? I laughed, remembering how they'd set fire to the barn of their last foster parents. No, better to buckle them in the Jeep and threaten them with extra chores if they didn't stay put. Ten minutes, I'm sure that would be all it would take to meet with the judge, find out what he needed and get on the road home.

Pleased to think I could cross one more item off my to-do list, I called Judge Borrega's office to confirm my appointment.

His secretary, Wanda Jean, answered the phone. "If you don't mind waiting a few minutes, he's running a bit late."

"Thanks, Wanda," I said. "See you soon."

I rolled into the lineup of cars at the elementary school in time to watch a stampede of backpacks exploding out of the doors, looking for the boys, that is if Jimmy and Rocky weren't already in detention. Knowing these two, it could go either way.

Rocky, first to my Jeep, grabbed the locked door handle and yanked.

"Hey, Lalla, open up!"

Built like a fireplug, Rocky passed the legal weight limit in Arizona for the front seat, which annoyed his younger, smaller brother to no end. Seeing a lesson to be learned, I rolled down the passenger side window. "You weren't very helpful to your little brother last time."

Feigning ignorance, Rocky smiled and said, "Whadya mean? I'm helpful." "You refused to hold the seat so your little brother could climb in the back."

Rocky's dark eyes narrowed and he stubbornly hung onto the door handle.

"I have ice-cream for dessert," I said.

Rocky lived for dessert. Behave, and he got ice cream and TV. Misbehave, and he got to sort and fold laundry until my dad picked him up.

It was a stand-off; he could hold onto the door and sulk or… I got as far as the count of three before he caved.

"I was just messin' with ya," he said with a grin. "I'll be nice."

I unlocked the door, and he pushed the seat forward for his younger brother to crawl into the back seat, and smirking, Rocky took his God-given right to sit in the front.

Author: R.P. Dahlke

Author Genre: Mystery, Romance, Humor

Website: R.P. Dahlke
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Twitter: @rpdahlke
E-Mail: rp@rpdahlke.com
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Author Description: My protagonist for the Dead Red Mystery series is a tall, blond ex-model turned crop-duster who, to quote Lalla Bains, has "been married so many times they oughta revoke my license."

Lalla is no Danielle Steele character & she's not afraid of chipping her manicure. Scratch that, the girl doesn't have time for a manicure what with herding recalcitrant pilots and juggling work orders just to keep her father's flagging business alive.

And beginning with A Dead Red Alibi, Lalla and family move to South East Arizona where she and cousin, Pearlie Bains, will continue to their hard earned license as Wishbone, Arizona's tenaciously annoying blonde P.I.s.

A Dead Red Cadillac
A Dead Red Heart
A Dead Red Oleander
A Dead Red Alibi
A Dead Red Miracle
A Dead Red Gamble
A Dead Red Horse Thief-coming late 2019

My romantic suspense books are also on Kindle: A Dangerous Harbor, and Hurricane Hole. If you liked my Lalla Bains series, I know you'll love these books: More romance, more suspense, and in an exotic location with nastier bad guys and a bald parrot!



Author's Book List
A DEAD RED MIRACLE - The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 5
Thinking to jump start their careers as private investigators in Wishbone, Arizona, cousins Lalla and Pearlie Bains buy into it with a local P.I. But their nifty plan starts circling the drain when his unscrupulous business practices end in his untimely death and they discover that he's been siphoning clients from their partnership.

With only a week before the state puts pulls the business license Lalla and Pearlie will have to corral a wall-climbing Apache ninja, pacify their former boss's greedy ex-wives and nail a killer. Sure Lalla and Pearlie are in a really tight spot, but all they need is a miracle or two.


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Amazon



A DEAD RED ALIBI - The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 4
A successful, but reclusive young artist with a secret life.
A wannabe lawman and his dotty gun-toting granddad.
An abandoned mine pit, a curious dad and the local police chief found with him.
When Lalla and her dad take a trip to Arizona to inspect her new property, Dad disappears. But when Lalla enlists the help of a local tracker she's relieved to find him unharmed, but in the bottom of a mine pit.

Unfortunately, he's got company--a local police chief, and it looks like he's been murdered. Then too, a young woman artist living nearby has also been murdered. What're the chances that these two murders are going to be related? Well, if you're Lalla Bains, you don't guess, you start looking for the killer!


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Amazon

A Dead Red Oleander - The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 3
"The main protagonists and all the supporting characters, have larger than life personalities, which lend themselves to some great dialogue exchanges and some pretty strange and esoteric action scenes. In preparation for the couple's forthcoming nuptuals, Lalla's relatives have arrived in California, from Texas and now the fun really starts!!"

When a late in the season emergency forces Lalla Bains to accept a greenhorn ag pilot for her dad's cropdusting business, she sighs in relief . After all, he comes highly recommended, his physical is spotless, and with a name like Dewey Treat, what could possibly go wrong?

Then her quirky relatives arrive from Texas and things go south in a hurry: Dewey Treat drops dead, his tearful widow claims he was murdered, clobbers Sherriff Caleb Stone with his own gun, and makes a run for it. Lalla, convinced the widow is innocent, sets out to prove it--against the express wishes of fiancé Caleb Stone.

Feds, local law, suspicious ag-pilots, nutso relatives, and her daddy's new sidekick, Bruce the goat, make life a living hell for Lalla. Will her nosey nature solve the crime and save the day? Or put them all in mortal danger?


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Amazon



A DEAD RED HEART - The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 2
When a lovesick, homeless veteran litters her vintage red caddy with paper snowflakes, Lalla Bains, Aero Ag pilot figures it's time for a showdown. Unfortunately, someone else has the same idea leaving Lalla with a dying man at her feet, and only his strange last words, "The more there is, the less you see," as a clue to his killer.

Compounding her life her tightwad, widowed father becomes a born-again ladies man, a disreputable competitor tries to push her out of business, and last but not least, her antennae twitches that the sultry redhead in Modesto's police department may be vying for Sheriff Caleb Stone's affections.

It soon becomes crystal clear that the police are totally off base on this murder investigation and someone else is going to have to suit up to solve this case. Someone who is just exasperating, pushy, and tenacious enough to get the job done--and that person will be none other than:Ms. Lalla Bains.


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Amazon



A DEAD RED CADILLAC - The Dead Red Mystery Series Book 1
"I've been married so many times, they should revoke my license," says NY model, and reluctant pilot Lalla Bains.

Running her dad's Crop-Dusting business in Modesto, California she's hoping to dodge the inevitable fortieth birthday party. But when her trophy red '58 Cadillac is found tail-fins up in a nearby lake, the police ask why a widowed piano teacher, who couldn't possibly see beyond the hood ornament, was found strapped in the driver's seat.

Reeling from an interrogation with local homicide, Lalla is determined to extricate herself as a suspect in this strange murder case. Unfortunately, drug running pilots, a cross-dressing convict, a crazy Chihuahua, and the dead woman's hunky nephew throw enough road blocks to keep Lalla neck deep in an investigation that links her family to a twenty-year old murder only she can solve.


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Amazon



Hurricane Hole - #2 in Pilgrim's Progress-A Romantic Sailing Mystery Trilogy
While anxiously awaiting confirmation on the renewal of her TV contract, Leila Hunter Standiford, opts for a sail on the boat she and her sister co -own in Mexico. But when she impetuously invites a family friend, and fugitive from justice, Gabe Alexander, as crew, she has no idea of the trouble that will follow. Now, at the end of her vacation in Puerto Felice, all she wants is to get Gabe off her boat.

Then a beautiful vintage Alden sails into the anchorage, and though she admires the boat, and the handsome captain, she doesn't realize the lovely yacht will soon burn to the water line, or that a dead body will be found below, or that the captain, who may or may not be the killer, might also be the man of her dreams.


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Amazon



A DANGEROUS HARBOR - Pilgrim's Progress

Bleary-eyed and sleep deprived after a long overnighter into Mexico, solo sailor and SFPD police detective, Katrina Hunter, thinks the mermaid twenty yards behind her thirty-two foot Westsail is nothing more than a sailor's hallucination But everything she knows about floaters convinces her to turn her boat around for another look.

Now, alone and isolated in the Mexican port's police station for six hours she's convinced that reporting a floater to authorities was a mistake. Even the arrival of a handsome, if somewhat dour, Mexican/Italian investigator does nothing to dispel her growing anxiety that she's about to be charged with the murder.

Chief Inspector, Raul Vignaroli, is as surprised by the attractive solo-sailor as he is to find that she's a respected member of the San Francisco police force, and after some well-placed phone calls he's sure that he's found the perfect partner to help him solve a murder, if not the cure for his broken heart. Released, she's free to go. But leaving the police station hits a snag when two policemen march in, dragging a listless prisoner between them. But before Katy can dodge them for the exit, the prisoner raises his head and a startling pair of aquamarine eyes meet hers.

He straightens his back, wincing at the angle of his cuffed wrists. "What the... Whisper?"

Suddenly, the sound of the ceiling fan is terribly loud. Blood pounds in her ears, her mouth goes dry, her palms are damp and her feet are nailed to the floor. In a knee jerk reaction, she hisses, "Don't call me that!"


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